Mu Sigma, an analytics and decision support service provider, on Wednesday closed a $108-million investment round led by General Atlantic. This is said to be the biggest private-equity investment in the emerging market for analytics services.
Sequoia Capital, which invested $25 million in Mu Sigma in April, also participated in the latest round, the company said in a statement.
Founded in April 2004, Mu Sigma's main delivery centre is in Bangalore. The company specialises in providing analytics to companies across multiple businesses like marketing, supply chain and risk analytics. It boasts of over 50 Fortune 500 clients, including Microsoft and Dell.
“We are excited to partner with the clear market leader in the emerging field of analytics and decision sciences for large global enterprises. The Big Data phenomenon is creating huge challenges for corporations as they look to harness information to accelerate and improve decision making, and Mu Sigma is an excellent antidote,” said Bill Ford, CEO, General Aatlantic in a statement. Ford will join Mu Sigma board as a part of this funding.
According to Mu Sigma, a part of the funding would be used to purchase shares held by the existing shareholders, all of who would continue to have stakes in the company. “The company is profitable and will use the new money for growth by acquiring new clients and developing more services. With General Atlantic and Sequoia Capital as investors, we now have a world-class private-equity firm and venture capital firm,” said Mu Sigma’s founder & chief executive officer Dhiraj Rajaram, a former consultant at Booz Allen Hamilton.
The company claims its revenues from 2008 to 2010 grew by close to nine times (886 per cent), which earned itself a place in Inc 500 list of America’s fastest-growing private companies. The company employs 1,500 people across its facilities in Bangalore and the US.
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Shailendra Singh, managing director, Sequoia Capital, said, “Mu Sigma has world-class analytics capabilities, a unique operating model that continues to create tremendous client impact for dozens of Fortune 500 companies. We are delighted to back the company in its mission.”
General Atlantic has been an active investor in business services companies globally with portfolio such as TASC, QTS, TriNet, Genpact and ServiceSource.
In addition to business services, GA focuses on providing growth equity to businesses in the sectors such as healthcare, energy and resources, financial services, internet and technology.